The Patriots also met last week with UCF quarterback Blake Bortles, Albert Breer of NFL Media reported Tuesday. According to Breer, the club was also studying other Knights prospects.

The Patriots pick 29th in the 2014 NFL Draft, and it does not seem likely that Manziel would slide that far down the board. Moreover, the Patriots are set at quarterback in the near term with Tom Brady under center. However, it doesn’t hurt the Patriots to do a little due diligence on one of the top prospects at a position at which they will need a new starter once Brady’s time comes to an end with the franchise. Also, top backup Ryan Mallett will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2014 season.

As our MDS also points out, it’s possible the Patriots will use the meeting with Manziel to gather some intelligence on various topics, including the spread offense.

No matter the Patriots’ reasoning for meeting with Manziel, the visit adds a little intrigue to a pre-draft process that’s grown longer this year with the draft pushed to May.

Not unusual. Remember NYG draft Q Ryan Nasib last year. Maybe a trade is in the works with another team. Whatever the case it doesn’t hurt to pick Manziels brain a little on what he has learned in college.

Manziel will throw more td’s then interceptions, unlike Joe Flacco. Manziel will also have a few rushing td’s.

bcfalcon says:Apr 1, 2014 8:18 PM

If the pats somehow took Johnny Manziel in the first round i think i would cry! QB should be the least of their problems (at least until the fourth round or later comes around). We need a Safety opposite McCourty, A Center and/or guard, a TE complimentary of Gronk (unless we move mark harrison the WR to move TE), and some pass rushers (as always).

bennyb82 says:Apr 1, 2014 8:19 PM

Never a bad idea to be prepared in case Manziel does slip back. Even if the Patriots do not need a qb this year, it could be a value pick that they could trade after a year for a top first round slot. A desperate team and a 2015 draft without a bunch of big-name qbs is all it would take to make it happen.

jimeejohnson says:Apr 1, 2014 8:23 PM

Here’s how many other QB’s have played for New England since Tom Brady arrived?

thegronk87 says:Apr 1, 2014 8:23 PM

in other news, the patriots signed darrelle revis and now have the best secondary in the NFL.

clarencewhorley says:Apr 1, 2014 8:24 PM

The Patriots will at some point play these QBs, this is just scouting. The Genius likes to know all he can on a player.

jimeejohnson says:Apr 1, 2014 8:24 PM

Damn my punctuation! Should have used a colon (:) rather than a question mark (?). Football fans are a very grammatical bunch.

ialwayswantedtobeabanker says:Apr 1, 2014 8:24 PM

This is NO bust on New England, but I bet they pump Manziel for info on Evans.

who cares about their division? I’m pretty sure they played every division in the NFL the last 13 years and what have they done to everyone of your teams? Dominated! hell they can win 11 games with Matt Cassel as their quarterback.

Hate on haters! Boston loves it! there’s nothing you can say or do to erase the statistics that will go down as the greatest era in football history! you’ll be dead and their decade and a half of dominance will live on in football infamy!

Jokes aside, first Case Kennum, now Johnny Manziel. Maybe the guy the NFL should draft from A &M is Kevin Sumlin. There have been more than a few Sumlin players entering the league. We remember that Case turned out to be slightly overmatched and Johnny, well the jury is still out. Some of the other guys have done OK.

They have 6 lay up games….. I mean lay up games every year, Jets, Bills, and Fins. If they played in the NFC West they would get smoked and be in fourth place after 4 games. What a joke the AFC East is.

Can’t wait to see another AFC get smoked in the Super Bowl by an NFC west team.

No one wants him anyway. My SB-bound Browns are going to the top this year and don’t need any flash-in-the-pan QB trickster. Weeden is in year 3 of the system : where QBs make the biggest jump. Him and T-rentasaurus Rex Richardson are going to dominate AFC North this year. I can feel it!

Tommy keeps throwin dirt balls at people’s feet like he did last year Belicheat will kick him to the curb like he did to Kosar in Cleveland. He’ll eventually have to blame somebody for his inability to draft pass rushers, corners, and wide receivers…

But there’s no reason not to do some intel with a QB they may be facing in the future

I don’t doubt they’d take him if he dropped like Mallett did – in fact it’d be hilarious if Manziel dropped and they took him with a pick acquired by trading Mallett (not going to happen I know, but the irony would be poetic!)

@realnflmaster please tell us more how Vick (won’t play 6 games this year) is going to take y’all to the Super Bowl…. Decker? Really should have gotten a number 1 WR decker will suck when Manning isn’t throwing him the ball.. Please stop being but hurt that New England got Revis… And to cap it off Rex Ryan is the biggest joke of NFL I would rather have Tebow as my head coach.. You make yourself look like a joke… Good job

What if they gave up a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick to move up and get him? Bill Belichick had the luxury of finding an elite QB 15 years ago with the 199th selection and it might not be so easy to find a successor. He knows that elite franchise QBs are rare and also essential to be dominant successes. Unlike many other teams he has not had to expend draft picks on QBs for years. He knows what he has in Mallett and I doubt that it’s special. Is it really crazy to give up say a 1st, 2nd and a 3rd to continue the dynasty?
BB probably recognizes that Johnny is better than all the other young QBs and has that rare aura of natural superiority, that he recognized in Tom.
What could be better than Johnny learning from the very best QB? Perfect solution and Jax or Oakland are probably dumb enough to do the deal.

You guys can downvote this all you want but I think Johnny Manziel is better quarterback than Tom Brady. Trade Brady and Mallett for picks and build around Manziel. Its is time for a New England Rebuild. Brady hasn’t won a Super Bowl in a good decade.

Simple. It’s for them to do their due diligence, so that when they face him they know his measurables (for scout team purposes) and the way he thinks/processes info. As much as I’d like to see him as Brady’s FUTURE replacement, it’s a pipe dream that he would make it out of the top 5..

The way Bridgewater and Manziel are falling its not unreasonable to think that one or both of the could be available at 29. I am sure the Pats are just doing their do diligence as its possibility Manziel will be available at 29.

Not everyone is too smitten with Manziel. Jaworski had him rated with a 4th round grade although he recently moved him up to a 3rd round grade.

But my bet is Bridgewater is the more likely candidate to drop from a top 5 pick to where Geno Smith ended up last year. There are too many people that fall in love with Manziel’s highlight reel athleticism and it only takes one team to buy into the hype for him to go top 10.

8oneanddones says:Apr 1, 2014 11:06 PM

14-14-11-12-16-10-14-13-12-12

Brady’s win total in his past 10 seasons as a starter. The 10 was the season he was coming off an ACL injury and playing with broken ribs. He won the super bowl before and after Bill Polian rewrote the rulebook to favor Peyton Manning.

Maybe not the best all time, but definitely in the top four.

deflateddome says:Apr 1, 2014 11:17 PM

If this is true interest, what can be said for Mallett? Is Bill ready to give up on him, or just a fear of having to pay him in 2015?

They have 6 lay up games….. I mean lay up games every year, Jets, Bills, and Fins. If they played in the NFC West they would get smoked and be in fourth place after 4 games. What a joke the AFC East is.

Can’t wait to see another AFC get smoked in the Super Bowl by an NFC west team.

NFC west is the SEC everyone else is the sun coast conf.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I guess it is too much work for you to actually check the stats, so I’ll do it for you. Last year, the NFC West and AFC west were tied for the most division wins. Next up was the AFC East. FACT!